This disclosure relates generally to outdoor units for air conditioners and heat pumps used to control the air temperature and humidity within a space and, more particularly, to a fan assembly of an outdoor unit adapted to reduce sound and flow losses
Air cooled condensers, commonly used in residential air conditioning systems, employ a fin tube construction to transfer heat from the refrigerant to the outdoor air. As hot, high pressure refrigerant passes through the coil, heat from the compressed refrigerant is transferred through the tubes to the attached fins. A fan is used to draw outside air across the finned heat transfer surfaces to remove heat from the refrigerant. In heat pump applications, the same outdoor unit operates in a similar manner, except that the heat exchanger operates as an evaporator rather than a condenser.
The planform of a heat exchanger coil of an outdoor unit is usually round, rectangular, or square in form, and the compressor is normally disposed within the coil. A fan and its drive motor are commonly mounted above the heat exchanger such that the fan draws outdoor air inwardly through the coil and then upwardly to be discharged into the atmosphere.